1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a socket connector, and particularly to an audio socket connector for mounting to a printed circuit board, in which the connector has a reduced height above the printed circuit board when the connector is mounted thereon.
2. Description of Related Art
Audio socket connectors are broadly applied to radios, records, TVs and other electronic apparatus to transfer audio signals between two audio systems. Recently, the audio socket connectors are more popularly applied in handheld electronic apparatus such as mobile phones, pocket computers and personal digital aids. These socket connectors are mounted on printed circuit boards in the apparatus for contacting with complementary audio plug connectors so that voice information can be transmitted to/from the apparatus.
Referring to FIG. 6, a conventional audio socket connector comprises a rectangular insulating housing 5, a plurality of signal terminals 6 enclosing a front portion 12 of the housing 6. The terminals 6 each comprise a tail 61 protruding beyond a bottom face of the housing 6 for soldering to a printed circuit board (not shown). An insertion hole 51 is defined in the front portion of the housing 5 though which an audio plug can be inserted into the socket connector to electrically connect therebwith. The shielding 7 has a pair of forwardly extending grounding tabs 71 located beside the insertion hole 51 for contacting with an conductive enclosure of an electronic device thereby forming a grounding circuit. However, the size of the grounding plates 71 is limited because it is arranged beside the insertion hole. This results that the reliability of the grounding circuit can not be ensured. In addition, the design that the grounding tabs 71 project in a direction parallel to the force applying direction for insertion/withdrawal of the complementary plug connector into/from the socket connector causes the engagement between the tabs 71 and the enclosure of the electronic device to be unstable. Furthermore, as mentioned, above, such a socket connector is now used in a portable electronic device which has a requirement of trend of minimization; however, for the conventional socket connector, its entire height is almost on the printed circuit board to which the socket connector is mounted. This causes the height of the electronic device not able to be reduced to meet the trend of minimization.
Accordingly, a first object of the present invention is to provide a sink-type audio socket connector having improved grounding structure.
In order to achieve the object set forth, a socket connector of the present invention is assembled to a printed circuit board and adapted for mating with a complementary plug connector. The socket connector comprises an insulating housing having a mating surface at a front portion thereof, an insertion hole extending through the mating surface adapted for insertion of the plug connector therein, and a plurality of terminal receiving slots defined beside the insertion hole. A plurality of signal terminals is assembled within the terminal receiving slots. Each terminal has a soldering tail located outside the housing. The soldering tails has a bottom end located between top and bottom walls of the housing and soldered to the printed circuit boards. Each terminal further comprises a mating portion extending into the insertion hole adapted for contacting with the complementary plug. A shielding is mounted to the housing and having a grounding plate extending downwardly beyond the bottom wall of the housing, adapted for engaging with a conductive grounding device.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.